Typically I do not like gin, but I was told that this is a different kind of gin flavor and that I might like it. I was also told that this is less “fattening” than vodka or other spirits…true?
Your experience with it?
There’s no fat in gin, unless you’re getting some mysterious gin with chunks of fat floating in it and not sharing with the rest of us. It’s really not that different than most other high end exotic botanical gins on the market. They use a different blend of stuff including, no kidding, rangpur. Basically it’s regular gin with a strong lime flavor. Didn’t knock my socks off, but you’re welcome to give it a shot of your own. Most gin drinkers I know don’t care for it.
Tanqueray Rangpur is pretty good, if you’re having a gin and tonic. In other drinks, the lime flavor could be jarring or overwhelming.
I tend to alternate between it and Bombay Sapphire these days, although when the latter runs out, I’m going back to Plymouth (that’s REAL gin for you).
Mmmmmm, bacon-gin
I drink Tanqueray, s’OK but I prefer Bombay Sapphire, which is spicier. Hendrick’s is good, too.
All spirits will be roughly 100 calories / 1.5 oz shot.
The might be referring to the fact that a gin and tonic is a bit lighter on calories than a lot of other mixed drinks, but that’s because of the use of the mixer, not the booze.
Tanqueray ranks very low in most taste tests. It’s overrated and bitter. Bombay is okay, but too sweet for me; it’s just the gin du jour for trendy folk. Give me Beefeaters any day.
If you don’t like gin, you’re probably not going to like it. It still has the backbone of gin flavor, with stong lime overtones. I used to hate gin (quite possibly because of an unfortunate freshman year experience which had me mixing gin with the last “mixer” available: cream soda) but I’ve since warmed up to both the regular Bombay and Bombay Sapphire. I am not a gin connoisseur, however.
I’ll have you know I’ve been falling down since the 1980s thanks to Bombay! 
Back to the OP, I had some Tanqueray Rangpur gin in a G&T, and I was pleasantly surprised–maybe I had low expectations, though. I don’t think I would use it in anything other than a G&T.
This is off-topic but while bartending I notice that Gin is the spirit where the most people opt for the Well version of the drink. I get very few calls for Tanqueray, Tanqueray Rangpur, Bombay, Bombay Sapphire or Hendrick’s which are the others that we carry.
This is in contrast to Vodka, where calls for Stoli, Absolut, Ketel One, Grey Goose and Belvedere are very common, especially surprising considering we don’t even stock the latter two. Ditto Whiskey with Jack, Jim, Maker’s, Seagram’s 7 and Crown.
I find all this especially curious because gin is the spirit which has the most distinctiveness in each brand’s recipe and has the most pronounced flavor on the whole.
I was going to say… That’s really odd. Damned if I can tell much of a difference between most vodkas in a mixed drink, but gin?
Mmm, Hendricks…
I’m a gin drinker, but I’ve never tried the brand in question. I tend to stick to Bombay Sapphire or Hendricks. We’re having minatures of Plymouth Gin as our wedding favours in a couple of weeks time though (because we’re getting married near Plymouth, not because I’m completely obsessed with gin!)
Sorry, I’ve just realised that I have nothing of value to add to this thread, just a general appreciation of gin!
Yeah, if I had to try and figure it out I’d wager that Vodka has a hell of a lot more marketing behind it that our young crowd is tuned into and 98% of the gin drinks we serve are Gin and Tonics, so the tonic is potent enough to mask anything you mix it with.
Good for Chefguy up there. I drink Beefeaters. It’s not as trendy as a lot of gins, but I like a Beefeater martini, straight up, with olives. I’m an old fashioned kind of guy. There’s nothing I hate more than ordering a martini and having the bartender ask me what kind of vodka to use. A beverage made with dry vermouth and vodka is a worthwhile drink, and if I’m out of gin I’ll drink one, but it’s not a martini. We should come up with a new name for it.
Now if you want a gin that doesn’t taste like gin, try Hendrick’s. It tastes like cucumber.
How about…YuckThisTastesLikeDryVermouth-a-tini? Martini’s are a waste anyway IMHO, they were made to cover up the taste of bathtub gin. It seems quite a shame to dilute some of the wonderful craft gins on the market these days with $.01 worth of fortified Italian wine. I say drink your gin ice cold and straight up. If you’re a big fan of spilling you can put it in a martini glass, but I prefer a regular rocks glass, one ice cube and no garnish. Keep those nasty briney olives away from my gin!
My mom and I used to go round and round about this - I was a Tanq fan, she preferred Beef. Of course, neither one of us was above swilling what the other was pouring! Alas, now she’s dead and I’m on the wagon…
Hell, maybe I ought to go for Hendricks. I, too, had a nasty experience long, long ago with gin that has left me feeling that it tastes like pine-sol on ice with a twist of pine.
Maybe fattening was the wrong word, but the calorie thing was what I was getting at when making that comment. I prefer vodka, but since I’m trying to lighten things up a bit, I’d be willing to give a good gin a chance.
I think you are missing the point here. 80 proof Vodka and Gin and Whiskey and Rum and Tequila all basically have the exact same number of calories (69 per ounce), the calories are in the alcohol itself. Changing liquor isn’t going to do anything to help you change your caloric intake unless that precipitates a change in the mixer.
For example, a Rum and Coke has more calories than a Gin and Tonic because the Coke has a lot of sugar in it. A Rum and Diet Coke will have a slightly lower calorie count than a Gin and Tonic since Tonic has about 5 calories versus the 60 in a regular Coke. If you start drinking Greyhounds (Gin and Grapefruit Juice) you’re probably going to be having more calories than you would in a Vodka & Soda and even more than a Vodka & 7up because fruit juices have a ton of sugar in them, usually more than regular pop.
One caveat, some liqueurs like schnapps, Irish cremes and flavored brandies have sugar and/or fat in them that ups the caloric content, but generally speaking you can assume that boozes of the same proof have the same number of calories.
Well, I don’t actually use vermouth in my martinis. I like gin glacially cold, but with as little dilution as possible. If you order straight gin you get warm gin, if you order it on the rocks you get ice, but if you order a straight up martini with no vermouth you get it the way I like it. And I like olives, plus they’re high in monosaturated fat, so it’s a health food beverage.
Well then you’re just drinking giant shots of ice cold gin in a fancy glass. I like the cut of your jib.
Of course I use a fancy glass. What am I, an animal in the jungle?